Also 4 tylte, 7 tylt. Pa. t. and pple. tilted; also 4 pa. t. tult, pa. pple. tylt, 5 pa. t. and pple. tilt. (In I, ME. tylten, repr. an OE. *tyltan for *tieltan:—*talt-jan, f. OE. tealt unsteady, shaky, TEALT (whence OE. tealtian:—*talt-ôjan to be unsteady). Cf. Norw. tylten adj. inclined to fall over, unsteady, Sw. tulta to totter. Branch II is from I; but br. III is from TILT sb.2 1 (deriv. of 1 here); br. IV from TILT-HAMMER: these are thus, strictly, separate vbs. of secondary origin.]
I. † 1. trans. To cause to fall; to thrust, push, throw down or over; to overthrow, overturn, upset. Obs. (exc. as in 4 c, 6 b).
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 832. Þe trestes tylt to þe woȝe & þe table boþe. Ibid., 1213. Ouer-tok hem, as tyd, tult hem of sadeles.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 1303. Sone þe top of þe toure he tiltis in-to þe watir.
1577–87. Holinshed, Chron., III. 1063/1. He … said to his wife; Mistrys Alice what milke haue you giuen me here? Wheerewithall she tilted it ouer with her hand, saieng, I weene nothing can please you.
† 2. intr. To fall over, tumble; be overthrown.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., C. 252. With-outen towche of any tothe he [Jonah] tult in his [the whale’s] þrote. Ibid., 361. Truly þis ilk toun schal tylte to grounde.
a. 1375. Joseph Arim., 4. Feole temples þer-inne tulten to þe eorþe, For heore false ymages þat þei on leeueden.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 1144. Untenderly fro þe toppe thai tiltin to-gederz.
3. intr. To move unsteadily up and down; esp. of waves or a ship at sea, to pitch.
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., IV. ii. 6 (Fols. 2 & 3). What obseruation mad’st thou in this case Of [Fol.1 Oh,] his hearts Meteors tilting in his face?
1594. Marlowe, Dido, I. i. Phrygian ships … so wrack’d and welter’d by the waves, As every tide tilts ’twixt their oaken sides.
1667. Milton, P. L., XI. 747. The floating Vessel … with beaked prow Rode tilting o’re the Waves.
1725. Pope, Odyss., XIV. 289. And tilting o’er the bay the vessels ride.
1822–56. De Quincey, Confess. (1862), 238. To and fro, up and down, did I tilt upon those mountainous seas.
1826. A. A. Watts, Death Pompey, v. A bark comes tilting through the spray.
1878. Mrs. Stowe, Poganuc P., xxviii. 238. The … tree … where the bobolink was tilting up and down.
II. 4. trans. To cause to lean abruptly from the vertical or incline abruptly from the horizontal; to slope, slant; to tilt up, to raise one end or side above the other, to tip up.
In Geol. used in passive of strata inclined abruptly upwards from their horizontal position: cf. TILT sb.2 4 c.
1594. Plat, Jewell-ho., III. 59. It is also very good to tilt your beere, when the Vessel is little more then halfe drawn off, for so you shall draw your beere good euen to the latter end.
1607. Middleton, Michaelm. Term, IV. iv. Give her more air; tilt up her head.
1807. Herschel, in Phil. Trans., XCVII. 199. By gently lifting up or tilting the lens.
1833. Lyell, Princ. Geol., III. 340. Sedimentary beds tilted up, and more or less contorted on the flanks of the mountains.
1868. Joynson, Metals, 19. Where the waggons are tilted and their contents shot out.
1908. Blackw. Mag., Sept., 319/2. His helmet tilted well to the rear to screen his neck.
b. intr. To move into a slanted position or direction; to incline, slope, slant, heel over, tip up.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 155. Keeping it even, that it may not tilt on either side.
1683. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., Printing, xxii. ¶ 2. Letting the hither side of the Board rest upon the hither Ledge of the Rincing-Trough; that the Form may tilt downwards.
1795. Herschel, in Phil. Trans., LXXXV. 408. The tube … by its great weight … will … tilt backwards.
1861. Smiles, Engineers, II. 274. He accidentally set his foot upon a loose plank, which tilted up, and he fell into the water.
1909. Daily Chron., 24 Feb., 1/5. South Africa also tilts to the east in summer and to the west in winter. This is probably traceable to the seasonal rainfall.
c. trans. To pour or empty out (the contents of a vessel), or cause them to flow to one side, by tilting the vessel.
a. 1613. [see TILTED ppl. a.2 2].
1865. Lewes, in Fortn. Rev., II. 702. To tumble out their sentences as they would tilt stones from a cart.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. xii. He poured the wine into his mouth, tilted it into his right cheek.
1883. Hardwich’s Photogr. Chem., xiii. (ed. Taylor), 281. Tilt the developing fluid backwards and forwards upon the film for about thirty seconds.
1899. Daily News, 20 Nov., 7/5. They object to being tilted out of a truck like potatoes out of a sack.
III. [f. TILT sb.2 1.]
5. intr. To engage in a tilt or just; to just or joust.
1595. T. Edwardes, L’Envoy to Cephalus & Procris, vii. Although he differs much from men Tilting under Frieries.
1611. Cotgr., Courir la lance, to tilt, or, to run at tilt.
1622. in Crt. & Times Jas. I. (1848), II. 305. He ran at the ring, and tilted with the Lord Montjoy.
1697. Collier, Ess. Mor. Subj., I. (1709), 131. ’Tis not yet the Fashion for Women of Quality to Tilt.
1859. Tennyson, Enid, 480. But in this tournament can no man tilt, Except the lady he loves best be there.
† b. transf. See quots. Obs.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, To tilt, to fight with a Rapier.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Tilt, to run at Tilts, to fence or thrust with Swords or Foils.
c. transf. and fig. To engage in a contest; to combat, encounter, contend (with); to strike or thrust at with a weapon, to charge or impinge against.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., V. ii. 483. Loe, he is tilting straight.
1589. Greene, Menaphon (Arb.), 74. Her eyes were like the fierie torches tilting against the Moone.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., III. i. 163. He Tilts With Peircing steele at bold Mercutio’s breast.
1613–6. W. Browne, Brit. Past., II. i. Against whose naked brest The surges tilted.
a. 1661. Fuller, Worthies, Lond. (1662), II. 193. With which Horn he tilteth at his prey.
1733. Pope, Hor. Sat., II. i. 70. Satire’s my weapon, but I’m too discreet To run a muck, and tilt at all I meet.
1809. Pinkney, Trav. France, 25. I resolved … never to tilt with a French lady in compliment.
1908. [Miss E. Fowler], Betw. Trent & Ancholme, 12. Coifi struck down the idol … tilting at it with his spear.
d. To ‘charge’ into a place or on some one; to run against, rush or burst in, through, etc.
1831. T. L. Peacock, Crotchet Castle, xviii. He … seized a long lance, threw open the gates, and tilted out on the rabble.
1854. H. Miller, Sch. & Schm., ii. (1857), 21. Not at all sure that I might not tilt against old John in the dark.
1873. Howells, Chance Acquaint., iv. Tilting along through the crowd with a half-staggering run.
6. trans. (loose uses): a. To poise (the lance) for a thrust.
1708. J. Philips, Cyder, II. 603. Sons against Fathers tilt the fatal Lance.
c. 1870. B. Harte, Twenty Years, Poems (1886), 36. The apple-blooms shook on the hill; And the mullein-stalks tilted each lance.
b. To tilt at; to rush at, charge; to drive or thrust by tilting.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., II. 465. Shooting at a mark or tilting it with darts.
1822. W. Irving, Braceb. Hall, xxiv. Never so happy as when they can tilt a gentleman logician out of his saddle.
1893. Cornh. Mag., June, 597. The woodcock often disport themselves,… tilting one another with ruffled plumage.
c. To drive or thrust with violence.
1582. Stanyhurst, Æneis, I. (Arb.), 29. A tempest … Oure ships to Libye land with rough extremitye tilted.
1697. Collier, Ess. Mor. Subj., I. (1709), 115. If it was the Custom to Tilt your Head against a Post.
IV. [f. TILT-HAMMER.] 7. trans. To forge or work with a tilt-hammer.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 770. It is cast into ingots, which by gentle heating and careful hammering, are tilted into bars.
1831. J. Holland, Manuf. Metal, I. 241. All steel, whether cast or skear, which is to be used for the best articles, should be tilted to the strength required.
1889. Q. Rev., July, 137. When ‘piled’ and ‘tilted’; that is … cut up into short lengths, laid in bundles, reheated, welded, and consolidated into a solid mass under the tilt hammer.
